Like many people, I am struggling to keep my body's weight off. Once you turn 50 years old, your metabolism slows down and you can easily start growing sideways like a refrigerator. SO I went online to search for a free application (aka, "app") for my mobile phone, to help me plan meals and track my daily calories. So I did a Google search for: "Are there any totally free apps to lose weight count calories?" Here is what came up at the top of Google...
- Lose It! App. ...
- MyFitnessPal. SHOP NOW AT MyFitnessPal. ...
- Fitbit App. ...
- WW App. ...
- Noom. ...
- FatSecret. ...
- Cronometer. ...
- Fooducate.
I went to check out the first so-called "free" app. "Lose It!" hounds you continually for money. I hate that! They advertise their product as being "completely free," but then they restrict usage. For example: Lose It! won't let you track daily calories unless you pay them! They lied. Lose It! are liars!!!
So then I moved down to the next so-called "free" app from "MyFitnessPal," but they do the same shady thing. They even put the words "SHOP NOW AT MyFitnessPal." Remember, in my frustration I did a Google search for: "Are there any totally free apps to lose weight count calories?"
It frustrates me to no end that everybody seems to lie nowadays. Dear reader, it is bad enough that "free" doesn't really mean free anymore. But then even when you search the internet for things that are "totally free" and "completely free," there's always still a catch somewhere along the way. You later find out that what was advertised as "free," in fact is NOT FREE. Who wants a "free" weight loss app that won't tract calories, won't tell you the details, and is basically worthless, unless you pay them money? THEY LIED TO YOU!!! THEY LIED TO ME!!! THEY ARE LYING WICKED PEOPLE!!!
Folks, this is a very serious matter to God. I wish there were laws which prohibited advertising anything as "free," but then it is limited and won't work as expected unless you upgrade for money. That is fraudulent advertising. That is exactly what the evil serpent did to Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:4, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:” Was the serpent (Satan) telling Eve the truth? Well, kind of. Eve didn't die physically when she ate the forbidden fruit, but she DID die spiritually. So the serpent told a half-truth, just like Lose It and MyFitnessPal. They advertise their products as "free." Are they telling the truth? Well, kind of. Their products are free in the sense that you get a program that doesn't work the way it was intended to work. For that you MUST get your credit card out and pay them $39.95 a year, or whatever they ask. Then they want money for this, and money for that.
Dear reader, aren't we humans just awful sometimes? Yes, we sure are!!! "Free" should mean free, in every sense of the word. I cannot help but see this as a PERFECT illustration of what is going on all across the world in our churches today, especially in the deteriorated United States of America. I am so ashamed to be called an "American" anymore. Our city streets are plagued with needless homeless, an epidemic of substance abuse, and politicians who are crippled to do anything about it, because of the fraudulent banking system established in 1913 (which is the root cause of income inequality and homelessness in America).
Everywhere we turn nowadays, we see preachers (pastors, Bible professors, chaplains, evangelists, missionaries, pastors, et cetera) perverting the grace of God concerning salvation. The inspired King James Bible (which is the ONLY English Bible we can trust today) plainly teaches that FAITH ALONE SAVES!!! Yet, pastors everywhere are preaching the Devil's lie that more is required. Take for example, Pastor James Knox of The Temple Baptist Church in Leland, Florida. Pastor Knox said these horrible words:
“Do you know why it's hard to know if people get saved or not anymore? It's because we've given them this option of salvation without repentance. You don't see a changed life, because no changed life was expected. No changed life was required. Look, you can stop drinking, stop cussing, stop chasing women, stop chasing men, stop chasing both—you can quit all that stuff and die and go to Hell—repentance is not the Gospel. But you're not going to come to God, without any sorry, any guilt, any acknowledgement, any desire, to do something about your sin. You're not going to get saved on those terms. Those are man's terms, not God's terms.” [emphasis added] SOURCE: Pastor James Knox, “Repent And Believe The Gospel: What Is Repentance?” (58:22 time in YouTube sermon video)Kindly said, Pastor James Knox is a liar, who adds to God's Words. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 30:5-6, "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Where does the Bible teach that "God's Terms" (as Knox claims) is that we should "require" a change when preaching the Gospel to lost sinners? No such nonsense is found in the inspired King James Bible. What saith the Scripture? Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” The Romans soldier asked a very direct question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The Apostle Paul's answer was just as direct: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” Paul didn't "require" the soldier to change his sinful ways to be saved!!!
We must stay true to the simplicity of the gospel!! Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief!!! We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3). Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty! The true Gospel always points you to Christ; a false gospel always points to you. Salvation is not doing your best; it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work. This is the true FREE grace of God, which is by faith alone.
When a preacher lures you into his false plan of salvation, by advertising that it is "free" and "by grace," but then he starts saying that you must do this, and do that, and stop doing this, and start doing thus or another, he is preaching another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). FAITH ALONE SAVES!!!
I think this is a wonderful illustration is what salvation is not. Lose It! and MyFitnessPal deceive people! They advertise that their weight loss apps are "totally free," but then in reality what they give you is so lacking in functionality that it is worthless unless you upgrade for money. They are behaving just like the sneaky serpent in the Garden of Eden. They all tell half-truths, and every half-truth is also a half-lie! We live in a wicked world of deception!!!
Have you believed a lie? I could name dozens of heretical preachers, but for the sake of keeping this blog short I won't. But another example of a dirty lying false prophet is Dr. Steve Pettit (executive president of Bob Jones University since 2014):
“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added]—Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)
Liar, liar, pants on fire! Dr. Pettit is oh so very WRONG in his doctrine! Friend, you certainly CAN accept Christ and that's it. That is what a gift is! Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eternal life is a gift. But as we all know, nothing in life is free. Jesus paid for our gift with His precious blood. Lose It! and MyFitnessPal are liars! If their products were truly free, then they would pay for it FOR YOU! But they want you to pay, which cannot be free. JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! Romans 5:6, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” You mean Jesus even died for Adolf Hitler? Yes, Jesus died for Hitler! You mean Jesus died for The Golden State Killer, a retired career police officer who raped 50 women, murdered 12 married couples, and burglarized over 100 homes? Yes, him too! Dear friend, Jesus even died FOR YOU AND ME!!! Christ died for THE UNGODLY!!!
Oh, why is it so hard for preachers to grasp the Bible truth that salvation is of the Lord? More people will go to Hell someday, because they were trusting more than faith:
“More people will die and burn in Hell, because they're trusting too much!” —Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay!”
“Everything that's hard and complicated about salvation is God's side of it!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay!”
Pastor James Knox and Evangelist Steve Pettit, utterly fail to grasp that JESUS PAID IT ALL. Man has no part in God's salvation except to cease from our own works, and REST completely in Christ. Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Why does the Bible tell us to "labour" to enter into God's rest. We find the answer from the dear Savior Himself in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The ONLY "work" that we can do to get to Heaven is to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried and resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). This is "the gospel" (the Good News) by which anyone can be saved, if we will simply BELIEVE IT! (Romans 1:16)
All these false teachers today, who are requiring MORE than faith to receive God's free gift of eternal life, are cursed by God for preaching another gospel. Galatians 1:9, “As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” It is no light thing to corrupt the Gospel. When a man attacks the grace of God, he is attacking the God of grace!!! James Knox is the enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ! Steve Pettit is the enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ. And sadly, 'Campus Church' at Pensacola Christian College has blood on their hands too! The following shameful screenshot was taken at a Wednesday night Bible study (on July 14, 2021 from PCC's Campus Church's 'Foundations Class') ...
Pastor Tim Zacharias taught thousands of people that your behavior must change if you are saved. This dangerous type of garbage teaching causes believers to worry, wondering if they are really saved when they sin and backslide. Kindly said, Pastor Zacharias is incompetent to teach! Sadly, so also is senior pastor, Jeff Redlin. When I kindly contacted Pastor Redlin on Thursday, about the heresy I had heard and seen preached with my own two ears and eyes, Redlin 100% defended Tim Zacharias. That showed me that they're both doctrinally corrupt!
Repentance does not result in a change in behavior. When a man gets saved, God's indwelling Holy Spirit begins to work to change him. But if that saint continues to live in gross immorality, they will always still be safe in Jesus and saved (Romans 5:20). A Christian CAN live like the Devil and still have the sweet assurance of salvation, because we are not saved by our own faithfulness, we are saved by God's faithfulness! Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty!
Dear reader, Bible repentance DOES NOT result in a change of behavior. The Bible is full of examples of believers (Lot, Solomon, Demas) whose behavior did not improve after they got saved. The saved man in 1st Corinthians 5:1-5 was living a lifestyle of fornication. He later repented, but he was living in the hogpen for a time nonetheless. I am so sick and tired of these heretical incompetent preachers today, who teach that you are not saved unless there is some evidence of turning from sin at some point. That is works, not grace (Romans 11:6). The problem is that these ungodly but sincere preachers are mixing works with grace. They are confusing and mixing sanctification with justification.
(Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold)
Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) gets it exactly right:
"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness." —M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)Also, Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan, made this beautiful helpful comment:
“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)
If these humble men of God can see the plain truth, as I do too, then why is it so difficult for Tim Zacharias, Jeff Redlin, James Knox, Marty Herron, Steve Pettit, John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Charles Phelps, and countless other false teachers today concerning repentance?
Sadly, even Pacific Garden Mission's popular radio program 'UNSHACKLED' is rife with heresy concerning repentance. Folks, there is only one Gospel. You either are required to change or not to be saved. You either must shew forth a change of behavior to prove that you're saved, or you don't, but it cannot be both.
Pastor Chuck Phelps errantly preaches: “You don't get saved by works, but if you are saved faith will work.” That sounds really religious. That'll preach, as they say! But the problem is that it is NOT Biblical, at all. Pastor Phelps is preaching Calvinism (i.e., the doctrines of John Calvin, 1509-1564). According to these Calvinist heretics, if you don't have works it proves that your faith is not genuine and you're not saved, despite your faith. That is not the Gospel. In God's plan of salvation, you simply come to God as a needy sinner and freely receive His gift of eternal life by faith. And then the life you CHOOSE to live (Romans 12:1-2), determines your rewards in Heaven (1st Corinthians 3:1-15). Please read this quote again by Dr. DeHaan:
"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple." —M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)
We must keep discipleship (service) separate from sonship (salvation). If you get these two things mixed up, you will corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people, just as John Bunyan warned in the earlier quote. I will close with this wonderful helpful quote from Pastor Jack Hyles:
Now look at John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Again, we are trying to decide and determine what makes one lost. It is very plain here. Notice the word believeth, "and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." What keeps a person from seeing life? Believing not! What makes the wrath of God abide on a person? Believing not! So, from what must a person repent in order to be saved? He must repent of that which makes him lost. Since "believing not" makes him lost, "believing" makes him saved. In repentance there is a turning from the thing that keeps him from being saved to the thing that saves him. So, yes, there is a repentance from unbelief in order to believe. It is simply a change of direction. It means a turning around. You are going away from believing, and you decide to turn around and believe. You change your direction; you change your mind. With your will you believe and rely upon Christ to save you. In order to believe, you have to repent of unbelief. That which makes a man lost must be corrected.Now turn to John 5:40, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Oh, how simple this is, and yet how plain! Why does a person not have life, according to this verse? Because he will not come to Christ. So, if a person is going away from Christ, he must turn around and come to Christ, which is a change of direction or a change of mind. This is repentance - repenting of the thing that keeps one from being saved, repenting from "going away" to "coming to."
SOURCE: Dr. Jack Hyles, 'Misunderstood Repentance'
Amen and amen. It doesn't get any simpler than that folks. God bless Jack Hyles, Martin DeHaan and John Bunyan, because these godly men understood the free grace Gospel of Jesus Christ and preached it correctly so, keeping sanctification separate from justification.
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